any ideas for a good topic for a historical investigation (1 Viewer)

[peter_]

hello im in year 11 and have received an assesment which requires me to undertake a historical investigation of any area in anceint history (not including hsc content)

i have being looking at the gigantomachy but am a bit skeptical about the primary sources
will be writing a made up essay with my own choice of question for the assesement

any thoughts from experience or ideas on areas that you found or think are good

any information is most appreciated thanks

 

[-may-cat-]

So you're interested in Greece then? What do you mean you're skeptical about the primary sources?

 

[peter_]

i just seem to be finding alot of good sources such as hesoid and his theogony, but then find other sources written by scholars interpreting the texts in different ways.
i think you just helped me realize that the people who write about the sources are not always holding the same view because the interpretations of the text wriiten in that era may hold different meanings.

i think im going to just read over the sources and just make a judgement based on what most scholars say it correct?
not really sure :[

 

[-may-cat-]

Yes, this is the fun thing about history, very few academics actually agree on things!

What you generally tend to find is that there will be several camps; the traditionalists (who follow the most widely accepted view), the questioners (who are skeptical and like to poke holes in the traditional view - but don't offer their own), and the radicals (who provide new, controversial interpretations and may or may not be crazy sometimes).

IMO, the best way to approach a topic is to read widely, understand all the interpretations and then go back to the text and its context and see what you think. Just because one interpretation is more common doesn't mean you should just blindly agree with it.

Maybe you agree with some things one person says and some things that another person says. In the end you should let modern scholars inform your point of view, but always make up your own mind from the text itself - if you don't, you're not really conducting a historical investigation but an extended literature review of modern sources.

Mind, this is all coming from how i've been taught to approach historical topics at uni - i get that this is year 11 and that your teacher's expectations might be different. Best to ask your teacher directly exactly what they are expecting, i know HS history teachers can sometimes be thingy about students offering their own interpretations.

BTW, if you're not already using: http://www.jstor.org/

 

[peter_]

thankyou for the help, this has really helped i appreciate it